I was hiding in my best friend Chloe’s closet, planning to surprise her for her birthday. “Creak…” The bedroom door opened, and the lights flickered on. I was just about to push the closet door open, ready to give her a shock. But the moment my hand nudged the door, pushing it open just a crack, Chloe’s head *rolled* right to my feet! Her long hair covered most of her face, leaving only her eyes exposed. Her wide, unseeing eyes swiveled towards my hiding spot, as if still alive. Her mouth seemed to be trying to say something, but all strength had left her. Terrified, I quickly pulled my hand back, but the closet door wouldn’t close. I heard footsteps approaching, and in sheer horror, I held my breath, not daring to make a sound. The next second, the closet door was yanked open! Chloe and I were best friends. Just yesterday, we’d been apartment hunting, talking about moving in together. Chloe had been in a bad mood for days, arguing with her landlord about the rent. Today was her birthday. I’d told her I was going back to my hometown, but in reality, I was already waiting at her place. Curled up in her closet, I was brimming with excitement, waiting for her to come into the bedroom, eager to surprise her. But the moment I heard a noise and prepared to jump out, I saw my best friend’s severed head. The gruesome sight chilled me to the bone! Her hair covered most of her face, but her eyes were wide open, bloodshot and staring. Right up to her last breath, her eyes were fixed on me! I held my breath in terror, my mind a blank slate, but my body moved on instinct. I instinctively slammed the open closet door shut. Just as I was regretting my impulsive action, I heard soft footsteps slowly approaching. I froze in terror, not even daring to breathe. The footsteps stopped right in front of the closet. I could even hear the strained, ragged breathing clearly. “Creak…” The closet door was opened! I squeezed my eyes shut, my limbs stiff as a board. In other words, I was waiting to die. But then, the next second. “Creak…” The closet door was closed again. The footsteps slowly receded, and the bedroom lights were turned off, as if nothing had happened. It suddenly hit me: the killer hadn’t noticed me because of the plushie costume I was wearing. I’d bought a giant teddy bear for Chloe at the supermarket. When I got home, I’d taken out the stuffing and climbed inside. Back then, I was fantasizing about the look on her face when a huge teddy bear suddenly popped out of the closet. Now, it had become my lifeline! It wasn’t until I heard the front door click shut that my heart finally stopped hammering in my chest. I was about to shed the heavy costume when I faintly heard the “Happy Birthday” song playing in the living room! That was… that was the music box I’d placed next to the cake on the living room table! He must have seen the cake I left on the table. So he never left the apartment! My fear had spread to my limbs, making my hands and feet tremble uncontrollably. But then, everything outside went silent. Apart from my own ragged breathing, I couldn’t hear a single sound. Maybe my nerves were just on edge. I peered through the crack in the closet door. A sliver of moonlight reflected in Chloe’s eyes from the window, making it feel like she was still watching me. The sight sent shivers down my spine.
Just as I was trying to calm myself, forcing my eyes shut, my phone suddenly rang. “Ding-a-ling…” A sharp, urgent phone ring pierced the silence. My nerves snapped taut again. This was it. My ringing phone was right there, on the bed, directly opposite me. “Creak…” The bedroom door opened again. This time, the footsteps were a little more hurried. The phone stopped ringing. He didn’t turn on the light when he came in this time, seeming to walk straight towards the bed without hesitation. I listened intently to every footstep, unable to control the sound of my swallowing. And then, he stopped right in front of me. The faint moonlight from the window cast his rough silhouette, but I couldn’t make out any details. I was praying he wouldn’t find me when I suddenly felt something warm moving closer to my side. My heart leaped. Before I could even react, I heard footsteps heading towards me again. He had turned around! The sound of his feet on the floor magnified in my ears, like a speaker blaring right next to me. My nerves were stretched to their breaking point. The air in the closet was already stale, and after being in this plushie costume for so long, I was drenched in sweat. Just as he stood in front of the closet, about to open the door again. “Knock, knock, knock…” The front door was knocked. It felt like a lifeline, and time stood still. Aside from the knocking, I couldn’t hear a single sound. After what felt like an eternity, the footsteps that were heading towards me changed direction. “Click.” He turned on the bedroom light, put his phone back on the bed, and left. I strained to see the phone screen. It was the delivery guy. [I’ll pick it up later, just leave it outside.] That was the delivery app’s chat screen. Sure enough, the knocking at the door stopped. It was then, through the crack in the closet, that I saw Chloe’s head suddenly contort. The hair that had covered her face now fell away, fully exposing it. Blood, like crimson paint, smeared her entire face, and her eyes looked utterly grotesque. She suddenly started to bounce up and down. My heart lurched. Had she become something… *undead*? Sweat dripped down my face, but quickly, through the crack, I saw a hand grabbing her hair and dragging her towards the door. Though I was still terrified, a wave of relief washed over me. “Phew…” I calmed myself down again, trying to listen for any movement outside. But this time, I heard no footsteps. The room was eerily quiet. It wasn’t until I heard the front door lock again that I regained my senses. However, the next second, when I looked back at the closet, I saw a pair of blood-red eyes staring intently at me.
“Ah!” After several attempts to steady my nerves, I finally broke down. A strong pair of arms pulled me into an embrace: “Shhh… Don’t scream, don’t scream, he hasn’t gone far!” I turned my head to look at the man in front of me. It was Mr. Davies, the landlord. I stared at him in horror. Could *this* man be…? “Calm down first. I was hiding right next to you earlier.” He explained frantically. I suddenly remembered the warm presence beside me. Was it him hiding next to me all this time? “Ashley, take off that plushie costume first. We need to talk properly.” Mr. Davies’s face looked as if he was about to cry. “I thought I was done for today. I never expected you to be here.” His voice trembled as he spoke, and his legs began to shake. “I just wanted to scare Chloe today. She always lagged on rent, and nothing I said worked. I just wanted to teach her a lesson.” “But, but who would have thought something like this would happen today.” The forty-year-old man burst into tears. “The moment I hid in this closet, I saw you, dressed as a teddy bear, sneak in. When I wanted to get out, just like you, I saw that head on the floor!” He finished, burying his face in his hands, his fingers unconsciously stiffening. “Did you see who it was?” I asked urgently. He shook his head. “I came in almost at the same time as you. From inside the closet, I couldn’t tell who that person was.” “Call the police!” I decisively pulled my phone from my pocket. It was then I noticed several missed calls from Julian, my boyfriend. I was suddenly grateful my phone was on silent mode, otherwise, I definitely wouldn’t have escaped tonight. A hand pressed down on mine. “Don’t call the police. If we do, we’ll be the prime suspects, and he’ll quickly find out we were in this apartment.” Hearing his words, I hesitated. The horrific sight of Chloe’s death was still vivid in my mind. Thinking of this, my hand involuntarily trembled. “Then what do we do? The police will investigate soon and ask where we were.” My heart was racing with anxiety, but I also felt Mr. Davies had a point. “It’s fine. We both go home now. We just tell the police you were at my place, that we were together.” He looked at me with an extremely serious expression. “No, Julian will misunderstand.” “Is your life more important, or your love life? Didn’t you see how terrifyingly Chloe died?” Mr. Davies’s eyes welled up again after he said that. A forty-year-old man now looked as small and helpless as a child. I glanced at my phone and deleted all the missed calls. Yes, I couldn’t be a suspect. I needed to catch the killer.
Mr. Davies was a man of misfortune. His wife had died years ago, and his child no longer wanted to stay with him. He lived alone in this large house. The first thing Mr. Davies did when we got back to his place was take a shower. The man was both timid and a germaphobe. I placed the deflated teddy bear in his living room. That crumpled plushie gave me a disturbing feeling. On his wall hung a family portrait; a family of three smiling happily. Just as I was about to examine the people in the photo more closely, my phone screen lit up. I looked down. It was Leo calling. Leo was Chloe’s boyfriend. His call right now felt like an interrogation. I placed my phone on the coffee table, watching the screen go dark automatically. Just as I was about to catch my breath, the screen lit up again. It was my boyfriend, Julian. He’d practically blown up my phone tonight. The messages on my phone irritated me, so I simply turned it off. “Want some fruit?” Mr. Davies emerged from the bathroom, carrying a fruit platter. “No, thanks.” I waved him off. He seemed to have composed himself. “The police will ask questions tomorrow. Have you thought about what to say?” He sat beside me, no longer flustered, but much more meticulous in his thoughts. I shook my head. What could I say? A man and a woman spending a night together, what else could it sound like? He seemed to sense my awkwardness, but then said, “What happened tonight, only we can know. Don’t tell anyone else.” I glanced at him. I knew who he was referring to. His implication was that the killer might be Leo or Julian. But I thought that was impossible. Leo and Chloe’s relationship was so good it made me jealous. She often said he was the best man in the world. As for Julian, it was even less likely. He barely had any interaction with Chloe. The only person who had recently been in conflict with Chloe was the man sitting in front of me. I looked at his harmless face, and a shiver of fear ran down my spine. “What are you thinking about?” His question made me jump. “N-nothing…” No, it couldn’t be him either. There was a third person present at the scene. I hugged my arms tightly. For some reason, despite the warm weather, I felt a sudden chill. “Do you know if Chloe had issues with anyone else?” He spoke cautiously. I looked up at him, the words I wanted to say ultimately swallowed back. “It couldn’t be just me she had issues with, could it?” Mr. Davies’s face paled. He quickly explained, “I only urged her to pay the rent or move out. I never meant to kill her.” Then, as if to prove his point, “If I killed her over rent, how would I ever rent out my apartment again?” He was right. If it was truly about rent, it would be a huge loss. Everyone would soon know someone died in that apartment. But if that were the case, I was completely lost. The police found me around noon. It was Leo, Chloe’s boyfriend, who had reported her missing. He couldn’t get in touch with Chloe, so he called the authorities. However, when the police investigated Chloe’s apartment, everything was so clean, as if no one had ever been there. A sudden cold sweat prickled my back. Because the birthday cake on the living room table was definitely still there when we left yesterday! “Where were you yesterday?” Facing the detective’s questions, I remained calm. “I was with Mr. Davies all day yesterday. He can confirm it.” “What did you say?” Julian stopped at the staircase, unable to believe what he’d just heard. The police officer glanced at me, cleverly guessing our relationship.
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “298825”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #浪漫Romance #现实主义Realistic #校园School #重生Reborn #狼人Werewolf
Leave a Reply